Fourth Sunday in Lent: Epistle, Romans 5:8-14                             

Romans 5:8-14 

Whenever I read the fifth chapter of Romans, I find myself resting at the end of verse 8 as if it is a summary statement. And I think that is a fair evaluation. I’m no grammarian and I’m not an authority on syntax, but just listen to the statement read aloud as it stands alone in the English Standard Version rendering:

“ …but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

After Paul discusses God’s work through Abraham and what defines his trust in God, Paul carries it all forward to our day declaring that what made things right between Abraham and his Creator was the living and dying of that Creator’s unique Son. Neither Abraham, nor you and I have or could have cleaned up our lives to warrant such an intervention. And this is Paul’s point. A point which must, in the end, foster rejoicing of the purest form. God sent His Son to die for me, in my place, precisely because I am a helpless sinner.

In this holy season of Lent, our minds are turned toward our sinfulness, the gifts of repentance and faith which come from God, and His provision of entrance into and the sustaining of eternal life. It all comes from that dying Son who loves sinners. Our reading this week uses verse 8 not so much as summation as a “stepping-off point.”  Read on and see the fruit brought by God dying and rising for those who have no right to His attention. Glory to God that He looked beyond our due and lavished upon us His love and mercy, “while we were still sinners.”